A Long Table is a special table containing a set of codes and labels (and optionally other fields) which can be accessed from any question (using the $T mask) in replacement for the question’s code list. There is no limit on the number of entries in a long table, hence it enables you to exceed the limit of 9999 choice codes for a question.
An entry in a Long Table can be located during an interview by entering a few characters of the code, label or any other field in the table. When an entry is picked, its code will be written to the database, and if desired, its label and any specified number of following fields in the table can be used to fill following consecutive questions in the questionnaire.
The Long Tables Manager is a tool for creating and modifying long tables. You can create a long table by importing from a text file or a data file (Access, Excel or even SQL Server table). If you import from a text file, the file and the long table can only contain codes and labels. If you import from a data file, however, the long table will contain all of the fields in this file. In both cases, the Manager creates a long table in which 2 fields are added: the code index field, and the label index field.
Strictly speaking, a code taken from a long table is not a response choice since it cannot have an associated skip or attribute. Nevertheless, you may use standard response choices (refused, don’t know, no response, etc.) concurrently with one or several long tables for purposes of conditional branching in a questionnaire.
The steps required to use a long table are:
Create and edit the long table using the Long Tables Manager (accessed in the Command Center's Settings master folder)
Create the link (in the questionnaire) to the long table using the $T mask in a question (using the Design module)
Access the long table during an interview.
Note: Long lists of choices can also be accessed through SQL requests. See Extended $T mask in Questionnaire Design.